William P. Schlenk v. Ford Motor Credit Company

308 F.3d 619, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 22341, 2002 WL 31398478
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 25, 2002
Docket01-5434
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 308 F.3d 619 (William P. Schlenk v. Ford Motor Credit Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
William P. Schlenk v. Ford Motor Credit Company, 308 F.3d 619, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 22341, 2002 WL 31398478 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

F.A. LITTLE, JR., District Judge.

Today we consider an appeal by William P. Schlenk from the district court’s order granting Ford Motor Credit Company’s (“FMCC”) motion to dismiss. The district court granted FMCC’s motion to dismiss Schlenk’s claims under the Consumer Leasing Act and the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act. The district court also dismissed a deceptive advertising claim and, thereby, terminated the case.

For the following reasons, we AFFIRM the district court’s decision.

I. BACKGROUND

A. Statement of Facts

Schlenk entered into a vehicle lease agreement with Bill Collins Ford, Inc. A lease agreement, like a purchase agreement, is negotiable and subject to statutory regulation, as we shall later discuss. Here, Schlenk negotiated a lease for a new truck having a total value of $22,279. The dealer assigned the lease to FMCC. In order to calculate Schlenk’s monthly payments, FMCC subtracted the value of the vehicle Schlenk traded and the agreed upon residual value of the truck from the total price, leaving an amount of $3249.70. FMCC then added the rent charge of $3562.22, for a total of $6811.92. To calculate the monthly payment, FMCC divided $6811.92 by 24, the number of months of the two-year lease term. After sales tax, the monthly lease payments for Schlenk’s vehicle amounted to $300.86.

At issue in this case is a $530 administrative fee that is included in the $3562.22 rent charge. The administrative fee is a type of handling fee that FMCC charges to process the lease. FMCC calculates the rent charge by taking l/9th of 1% of the vehicle’s net capitalized cost multiplied by the term of the lease. FMCC collects the fee on a pro rata basis each month. This case does not involve the amount of the fee or the fact that FMCC charged Schlenk an administrative fee. This dispute involves what level of itemization FMCC must disclose by law in regards to the administrative fees and rent charge.

B. Procedural History

Schlenk initiated a class action complaint in the United States District Court, Western District of Kentucky, seeking *621 damages and injunctive relief based on federal and state statutes. Schlenk alleged FMCC’s practice of including the administrative fee under the heading “rent charge” violated Consumer Leasing Act (“CLA”), 15 U.S.C. § 1667, et seq., its implementing regulation Federal Reserve Board Regulation M (“Regulation M”), 12 C.F.R. § 213, et seq. and the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act (“KCPA”), K.R.S. 367.170, et seq. No class was certified.

FMCC moved to dismiss' the complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The district court granted FMCC’s motion to dismiss the CLA claims and the KCPA failure to disclose claim but retained the KCPA deceptive advertising claim. The district court later concluded the deceptive advertising prong was premised on the same statutory violations previously dismissed. The district court concluded that both of Schlenk’s causes of action turned on FMCC’s compliance, or lack of compliance, with Regulation M. Having decided that FMCC met the disclosure requirements of Regulation M, the district court terminated the case. Schlenk filed a timely appeal.

II. JURISDICTION

The district court had jurisdiction over the action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 as Schlenk filed a claim arising under a federal statute, CLA, 15 U.S.C. § 1667, et seq. The district court had supplemental jurisdiction of Schlenk’s state law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367. This court has jurisdiction to hear the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.

III. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

We review de novo a district court’s dismissal of a claim pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See United Food & Commercial Workers Int’l Union Local 911 v. United Food & Commercial Workers Int’l Union, 301 F.3d 468, 472 (6th Cir.2002) (citing Inge v. Rock Fin. Corp., 281 F.3d 613, 619 (6th Cir.2002)). In doing so, we “accept all well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint as true and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Id.

B. Federal Statutes Do Not Require an Itemization of the Rent Charge.

Schlenk denies that this case turns on whether the federal statutes require itemization of the rent charge. Schlenk wants the court to decide the case based on “whether items which are required to be disclosed as part of the capitalized cost of a lease can be added to the rent charge to avoid the CLA’s disclosure requirement.” (Final Reply Br. of Appellants at 2). Appellant’s framing of the issue begs the question. If we were to agree with this interpretation of the issue, we would first have to assume that the statutes require disclosure of the administrative fee separate from including it under the rent charge. Such an assumption necessarily decides the case. We view the issue as whether the CLA and Regulation M require FMCC to disclose the administrative fees to the consumer by itemizing the fees separate from the rent charge.

On the face of the statute, the CLA does not mandate any disclosure of the administrative fee or itemization of the rent charge. Under section 1667a Consumer Lease Disclosures, the statute lists information that the lessor should provide to the lessee “in a clear and conspicuous manner.” 15 U.S.C. § 1667a. The list of required disclosures does not include administrative fees or the rent charge. We turn to Regulation M to find support for *622 Appellant’s claims. Regulation M provides a list of disclosures for consumer leases. 12 C.F.R. § 213.4. Regulation M specifically mentions “rent charge.” The regulation describes rent charge as “'the amount charged in addition to the depreciation and any amortized amounts.’ This amount is the difference between the total of the base periodic payments over the lease term minus the depreciation and any amortized amounts.” 12 C.F.R.

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Related

Cole v. Mariner Finance, LLC
W.D. Kentucky, 2023
Corder v. Ford Motor Co.
285 F. App'x 226 (Sixth Circuit, 2008)
Schlenk v. Ford Motor Credit Co
540 U.S. 877 (Supreme Court, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
308 F.3d 619, 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 22341, 2002 WL 31398478, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/william-p-schlenk-v-ford-motor-credit-company-ca6-2002.